Label Text:
Named portrait painter to Queen Victoria in 1872, James Sant had a long and prolific career. Specializing in portraits of the British aristocracy, his works often include narrative or anecdotal elements, as in Light Thrown on a Dark Passage. The evocative title of this portrait was selected by Sant from three proposed to him by the celebrated author, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). The other titles, as recorded by Dodgson in his diary entries of April 9, 10, and July 1, 1866, were “Old Poets and Modern Lights,” (the title preferred by the author) and “Shakespeare in a New Light.” From Dodgson’s diary we also learn the date and the name of the sitter of this portrait. Several references to Sant and his family appear in Dodgson’s diaries. The artist and his family were also photographed by the author, whose Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865. (Carol Solomon-Kiefer, 2005)
Subjects:
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